Happy Turkey Day

Ashton and I just returned home from a very enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday. Ashton flew straight from New Zealand to meet me in Arizona where there was beautiful warm weather every day. I couldn't have asked for better holiday conditions.


Our time was spent well there with our family and friends who we hold dear, eating lots of yummy pie with the Smiths, watching movies, getting an agua (multiple times), looking at the beautiful Christmas lights at the Mesa temple, hiking to the Fremont Saddle, and one of my favorite parts was running the Mesa Mi Amigo's 10K turkey trot!


At the turkey trot we were humored by a lady holding a sign to represent PETA. The sign simply read "Thanksgiving is killing turkeys." Way to represent at the turkey trot whose winners acquire a dead turkey.

We also had the opportunity to conquer another capitol on out capitol croquet tour! We learned that the actual state house is not even used by the government. It is just a museum!

Also, while we were in AZ, we celebrated our Anniversary by eating that old wedding cake that has been sitting in the bottom of my parents freezer for over a year. I thought that it would be stale and gross, and was surprised to find it moist and yummy! If only all cakes tasted that good!

I feel like this blog wouldn't be complete without mentioning some of the things that I am most grateful for.

• The gospel and the testimony which I have of it
• My dear sweet husband
• All of my family members
• Temporal blessings (i.e. food, apartment, clothes, etc.)
  
• Good friends who are practically family
  
• Cuddling up to read a good book
• Couches--this may seem strange, but we don't have one so when we use one--my what a blessing!
• A good pair of running shoes--essential for no pain
• Music to season life
• Warm weather in the winter

Of course the list could go on and on. I just felt like this blog would be empty and not worthwhile if I didn't express my gratitude for even a few things.

Lots of Changes

Shortly after Ashton and I returned from our trip out East, lots of cards began to be played that have altered our plans slightly. Atlas, Ashton's former employer had to merge with another company so he is now working for Pinnacle Security. To me it's all the same, but it will be different I suppose. We were supposed to be cruising the Mexican Riviera this week, but I really just wanted to stay home and have some kind of routine for more than a week or two. Plus, I really wanted to get some more research done for my professor. So, Ashton decided that if we weren't going to go to Mexico, he might as well go to New Zealand to try and get people to sign up for the network marketing company that he joined, called Agel.
Halloween was good we went to see Thriller up at the U. It was fantastic! I must say that some parts were really scary!
All in all, life is good and we have been greatly blessed to be where we are and have the opportunities that we do. Life's possibilities truly are endless!

Acquisition of Seasonal Homes?

Ashton and I have just returned home from yet another trip--this time, the east coast. It was a spectacular time to go and see all the colors of fall in full force. I don't think we could have picked a better time to go to the mid-atlantic and then up to New England.

We of course, had to play croquet on as many capitols as we possibly could. We hit up the nations capitol, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. It was so much fun. We got kicked off a few, but other than that it was great.

We met up with our friend Carrie. Her mom was out visiting so we got to see her as well...and get some free food! It was good to catch up. It's too bad Thanksgiving doesn't work out. Chinatown DC is looking pretty good these days. So Carrie, we told you we would put you up on the blog---so here you are---Gosh you look good!

So day one we spent in DC. We went to the temple and then played some croquet and walked around and met up with Carrie. It was a great day!

My uncle Phil's friend owns a home on the Chesapeake and every year they go crabbing and spend some time down there. We planned the perfect weekend to come and invade the expedition. It was great to hang out with Phil and Lori. Ribs were good, crabs were delicious, knobby apple cake put us right over the top! We went out in the water and I swear the boat was going to fall apart, but we survived Ira's ride of death.

We spent Sunday with Gram and Pop-pop going to church and eating yummy food. Eating--we did a lot of that on this trip. Abby came to play some croquet with us and Phil and Lori came later and ate. It was so good to talk and laugh. Phil is so funny. Sometimes I'm not sure why, but he just makes me bust a gut.

Monday was at Annapolis. The security on that Capitol lawn was tight. I swear at one point we had 5 security people staring us down. I don't know if it's because it was by the naval academy, or because our croquet set looks like a gun case. Who knows?

That night we hung out with the Sam Polakoff family. "It was mad nice sick wit it" as our cousin Ryan would say. And we "copped some serious eats." I'm not sure what dialect of English that is--maybe a mix between eubonics and cracker.

Our plans to go to NYC changed to going on a mini civil war tour. We first stopped to see the house where I grew up in. It sure looks a lot smaller than when I was six! We went to Harpers Ferry and did one of my favorite hikes on the east coast. Then to Antietam battlefield-the bloodiest single day in the civil war and then up to Gettysburg-the major turning point of the war. It was a good reminder of men who have died for freedom of oppressed.

We rode the train to New Haven, CT to meet up with our dear friend Becky who is attending Yale right now. When we first got there she had a class so we ventured up to play some croquet and then we have some connections to get a private tour of ESPN located in Bristol, but everyone was in a meeting. After waiting restlessly for over an hour, we decided to head back down to spend time with the Beckster and show New Haven some Buswell wrestling moves.

What is Buswell wrestling? It all stems from when Ashton's dad was a not-so-good wrestler and was always getting pinned. He decided that instead of pinning your opponent, there should be a game where you pin yourself while attempting to keep your opponent from pinning him/herself. It is quite challenging and very fun. So New Haven, we welcome you to the world of Buswell wrestling!

We made the venture through Rhode Island, and Boston, up to New Hampshire. IT WAS SO GORGEOUS! The fall colors were absolutely spectacular! Being from AZ, I thought that Utah was pretty. Nothing compares to the New England fall. I told Ashton that someday, if we ever become millionaires, we just might have to have a seasonal home up in NH of ME.

We stayed with my Uncle Wade. He let us borrow his gigantic truck which we took to Maine our first day there. It was so spectacular. We ate at a small town cafe--our favorites! Everyone knew everyone in there. They were all giving tips on the hot places to see. We took their advice and drove out to a beautiful lighthouse. We weren't able to spend a lot of time there because we had to get back in order to make it down to Boston in time to see Wicked. Which was awesome. It was so fun to hang out with my family and go out to dinner and watch that amazing play!

The next day we spent down in Boston. It was a little rainy at first, but at least it wasn't cold. We walked the freedom trail. Our favorite part of town was little italy. We loved the old buildings and flowes hanging from above and courtyards. We got to see a lot of historical places. We even saw the tombs of Sam Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere and other famous people. There are lots of old churches in Boston and Ashton seems to be investigating them all. One of them is in the movie National Treasure. I haven't seen this movie, but Ashton has and so everytime we saw a church he thought that was the one in the movie, so we would take a picture of him with the church. But the correct one was the last church we ran into. So now we have Ashton with all these churches. Kinda funny.

We also stopped at the place of inpiration for Cheers--where everybody knows your name.

While we were there, we also went to Harvard to see a friends of Ashton's who is on the wrestling team. Maybe someday we can go there for ourselves. I don't know if that will ever happen--I might need more brains, but one can always hope of the opportunity. So, while we were at Harvard, we took a picture with a statue of John Harvard who apparently wasn't really the co-founder of Harvard, and there are no pictures of what he really looked like so the statue isn't really a replica of him, but everyone takes pictures by this statue, so we decided to jump on the bandwagon.

Our last day we just hung out with family. Ashton's cousin and her family came up and it was fun to see them and the rest of the time we spent with my family. It was a great trip overall. We loved being with family and friends in this beautiful time of year.

I don't think a seasonal home is in the near future. But one can always dream!

One year down, forever to go

Ashton and I have made it 1 whole year! Sometimes it seems like forever already and other times it seems like just yesterday we knelt across that altar and said "yes" to time and eternity. To celebrate this momentous occasion, Ashton took me to the Armstrong Mansion. It just so happens to be one of the oldest homes in Salt Lake that they have turned into a bed and breakfast. Our room was awesome! It had a spiral staircase that went up into the highest point of the house where a jetted tub sat calling our name! He also took me on a sunset dinner cruise on The Great Salt Lake.
Who would have ever thought that the Salt Lake would be a great spot for a dinner cruise? Not I. I usually think of the Salt Lake as nasty and salty and a place where you can't really do anything. But, there is a dinner cruise service that wasn't all that bad. The food was alright, the service ok, the sunset spectacular. Honestly, it was one of the prettiest sunsets I have ever seen.
We both feel blessed to be married to each other. The old folks say that we don't even really know what love is, but I think we do and it grows more and more everyday. What a wonderful year it has been. We have been able to do many neat things and feel blessed for all of our opportunities.

Lewis and Clark Expedition

We have just returned from our exploration of the northwest territory. We had a spectacular time. We started our journey in Sacramento, CA. After a night of fun at the California state fair where we watched and listened to Lonestar, we traveled on probably one of the most dangerous highways in America. At some points we weren't even sure we were on a highway. It turned into a dirt road at one point and then only one lane for both directions. We stayed our first night in Eureka, CA, right on the coast. We then drove north to the Redwood forest. It was absolutely enchanting. We stood at the base of a tree that was 23 feet in diameter. We took some time to drive through one of the great redwoods. Who would have ever though of driving though a tree!

We then drove further north to Crater Lake. The water in that lake was the most blue of any we have ever seen. This sunken volcano holds only water from precipitation. There are no inlets or outlets to this lake. I'm not quite sure how we saw a boat down in there.

Our next stop was Salem, OR where we played a game of croquet. Oregon definitely has the craziest of all the capitol buildings we have seen so far on our capitol croquet tour.

We stayed the night in Portland at an abandoned apartment from one of Ashton's offices this summer. It was a goldmine of food and water. There was a nice warm bed to sleep in and a hot shower in the morning.

On to see and active volcano we went! Mt. St. Helens we learned is erupting at this very moment and has been for quite some time now. We went on a small hike and learned about how the eruption in 1980 changed the landscape. We read crazy survival stories of people in mudslides rushing from log to log by adrenaline to save their lives.

Olympia held the spot of our next destination. A rousing game of croquet in beautiful weather and beautiful scenery is just what we needed after long hours in the car. After our friendly game we went out to the Puget sound and had fun watching the locals walk their dogs or skip rocks into the water. On our hunt for some food, we found a little league game and stopped to watch and grab a bite to eat. Ashton is still kicking himself that we didn't go to the Mariners game instead.

We spent the night with our friends Alex and Anna in Seattle. It was so good to see them and hang out with them for a while. Anna took us to Pikes market downtown and we had fun exploring the scene. We saw the first Starbucks, smelled fresh flowers, stinky flying fish and ate some tasty organic blueberries. (Everything in Washington seems to be organic these days).

Across the state we went to Spokane where sits the biggest radio flyer red wagon our eyes beheld. Not too much further was Coeur D'Alene, ID. We found a nice camping spot near the lake. The air was fresh and clean. The woods smelled so good. Unfortunately we didn't spend much time there. It would be a lovely place to go back to.

The main purpose of our trip was to camp in Montana. After a few days of traveling we finally made it there. Our first camping spot was at Whitefish lake. We were right on the water. It was fantastic! We went to City Beach and watched a beautiful sunset. It was certainly picturesque with the mountains, trees, lake and the big sky hanging overhead.

The next morning we had a river rapids adventure. It took us between the Bob Marshall wilderness and Glacier National Park on the Flathead River. We learned a little bit of history connected to the area. We made some friends and mostly just had a grand time in the wilderness.

We entered Glacier and took Going to the Sun Road almost all the way through the park to our campsite. The sights were spectacular. Beautiful mountains carved from melted glaciers clouded the sky. Leftover glaciers from the summer months still sat high up in the mountain tops. Wildlife including goats, birds, and bears dotted the landscape. The grandeur and majesty of the mountains were breathtaking.

After setting up camp, we went on a small 6 mile hike to view three of the camps waterfalls. They were beautiful. We thought that it would be a good warm up for the next days hiking extravaganza.

The next day we hiked approximately 14 miles. We took a small hike to hidden lake and saw some wild birds and flowers and small waterfalls and the hidden lake of course. Then in the afternoon, we hiked up to Grinell Glacier, named after the man who found it and also one of the men who founded the park. This hike was unbelievable. We spotted a bear high up the mountain while hiked past 3 amazingly beautiful lakes. Each one getting seemingly more and more beautiful. From high above we could see the shallow parts of earth under the water; it was so clear. Not only were the lakes beautiful, but the rocks were so colorful and vibrant. Flowers on the hillside added to the color and spectacle of the hike. At the top is the glacier, somewhat frozen and somewhat melted forming a near frozen lake with floating icebergs. The sight was phenomenal, especially looking back down the path we had come. What a beautiful reminder of how small we really are in comparison to this glorious world, and yet the power we do hold to conquer the mountains thereon.

After leaving the pinnacle of our trip we traveled south to Great Falls. We stayed with the Shaws and got a tour of Ashton's old schools, neighborhood and house. We visited the Lewis and Clark interpretive center. It was interesting to learn about the places they went and the hardships they had (especially since we had been calling ourselves Lewis and Clark). We rented some bikes and rode along the river looking at each of the falls.

We then headed to Ennis, MT and camped on the Madison River after eating at the renowned Ennis cafe. We attended church in a small branch with many faithful saints. The spirit was strong there and as the meeting ended we sang How Great Thou Art, what I considered to be an appropriate ending to our exploration.

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art. Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Our next to last stop was in Yellowstone where we witnessed Old Faithful blow. Then we headed to Rexburg to walk around, visit some friends, and have some dinner before we headed back to Provo to sleep in our nice comfortable bed.

It was a fabulous trip where we were able to renew our spirits and see the beauty of this world with all of God's marvelous creations. It certainly was a beautiful reminder of how blessed we are in all areas of our lives.